In a closely fought battle (and there's a chance the final weekend figures, which will be released this afternoon, will reverse the number 1 & 2 films, as they did last week), Kick-ass failed in its bid for box office domination in the US and had to settle for second spot in its first weekend.
Thanks to a drop of less than 20% from its last week, How To Train Your Dragon returned to the top of the box office in its fourth weekend, with a take of $20 million. Without the benefit of 3D, and despite stellar reviews and loads of hype, Kick-ass failed to kick-ass, taking a decent but not decisive £19.7 million to gain the number 2 slot in the US box office top 10. While some have seen this as a disappointment, others have noted that it's actually amongst the strongest openings ever for a superhero comedy, a subgenre that's notably failed to gain box office traction in the past.
The only other new entry in the top 10 was Chris Rock's remake of Death At A Funeral, which took a not too shabby $17.0 million for a fourth place finish.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of April 16th-18th.
| Rank |
Title |
Weekend Gross (millions) |
Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 |
How To Train Your Dragon |
$20.0 |
$158.6 |
| 2 |
Kick-Ass |
$19.7 |
$19.7 |
| 3 |
Date Night |
$17.3 |
$49.2 |
| 4 |
Death At A Funeral |
$17.0 |
$17.0 |
| 5 |
Clash Of The Titans |
$15.7 |
$132.9 |
| 6 |
The Last Song |
$5.8 |
$50.0 |
| 7 |
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? |
$4.1 |
$54.8 |
| 8 |
Hot Tub Time Machine |
$3.5 |
$42.5 |
| 9 |
Alice In Wonderland |
$3.5 |
$324.0 |
| 10 |
The Bounty Hunter |
$3.2 |
$60.3 |